The Harvard dynamitic duo of Maxwell Drummey and D.A. Wallach are not your average Harvard Grads. Instead of heading to the investment banks, or law school, these two are currently making their mark on the pop music scene as Chester French with their freshman effort Love The Future, out now on Star Trak records. D.A. and Max dig into limitless music, having Pharrell and Chad as their bosses, the influence hip-hop has had on them, and more.
Is it true that you guys respond to every piece of fan-mail (and other mail in general) personally?
CF: It is true indeed. The least we can do is respond to the folks who are supporting us at this early stage in our career. And most Chester French supporters we've met at pretty awesome so it's a pleasure.
What’s this Chester French VIP Concierge Service I heard about?
CF: The concierge service is basically the service through which we communicate with our supporters and invite them to join us for special, secret events when we're on tour. We recently hosted a free, open-bar cocktail hour in NYC, for example, and invited everyone who had joined our VIP Concierge Service. And the best part is that it's free and anyone can join at chesterfrench.com.
Speaking of your fans, you guys have a variety of them ranging from rock crowds, to pop crowds, to hip-hop crowds. Does this add more pressure, the fact that you have to appease a new variety of people every time you drop a record or perform a live show? Do you try to expand your music into those genres knowing that you have fans who like a particular side of you?
CF: We just try to make music we love and our supporters are super open-minded so we trust that they give every experiment of ours a listen.
Of course, being on Star Trak gives you that freedom to explore. Unless I’m wrong and you have limits, because they aren’t so evident in your music. Is it fair to say your limit is to “have no limit?”
CF: Yes.
How are Pharrell and Chad as bosses?
CF: They are the coolest bosses on earth. They're musical geniuses and teach us so much in that realm but then also give us the freedom we need to make the music we want to make. Not to mention that they're genuinely great people.
What did Harvard teach you about being musicians? Perhaps it didn’t change you at all, but surely, it must’ve shaped some parts of your lives even if not in music.
CF: It was four years, so it definitely impacted us, but we've tried to avoid letting Harvard, the music biz, or any other institutions really define us. We just try to be ourselves, whether that's in the context of Harvard or Star Trak, and it's more fun that way!
Can you explain the title, Love the Future I found the addition of the Geisha quite interesting. Is there any deeper meaning to having a Geisha, a timeless character that provides entertainment, in between two modern entertainers? CF: There is so much deeper meaning there. Shit. You have no idea. Layers.
You guys are being compared to a lot of classic rock groups. From what I’ve read, it seems like the general consensus could be The Beach Boys. I firmly agree. D.A., you have even been compared to Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Carl Wilson. What does Chester French bring to the table that groups like The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones did in their hay-day? Do you guys agree with the comparisons?
CF: We love those groups and aspire to their incredibly level of creativity and showmanship. We've also learned from many other artists but there's a certain youthfulness and playfulness to Love the Future that definitely is inspired by 60's pop.
You guys were on his “As I Em” joint, why not invite him to drop something on your record? Jacques Jams was loaded with features; did you guys just want this solely to be Chester French and only Chester French?
CF: Yeah, we wanted the album to really be 100% us. Even though we released it on Interscope, it's a very independent-spirited project as we wrote, produced, and engineered it all ourselves.
Was there any specific inspiration for songs like “Jimmy Choos,” “She Loves Everybody,” and “Beneath the Veil?” They seem to deliver some strong lyrical messages aimed at particular people or particular situations. Can you speak on the lyrical content, of course, not limited to those tracks?
CF: We try to write songs from experience, so that they are legitimately genuine. Beyond that, our main goals are to make them pleasant sounding and memorable.
Considering the jump, emotion, and musicality you guys provide to a song, guest spots will certainly always be on your radar as they already have been. How does it feel being asked by an artist like Common or Talib Kweli to be a feature on their songs? Is it less pressure or more pressure?
CF: It's really just more fun, but it's always a challenge to work with new people. We try to find a balance between making a track our own and respecting somebody else's work.
Regardless of where you guys are signed, we sincerely hope you guys stick around and drop another dope album. What can we expect from Chester French for the rest of 2010?
CF: We are touring our asses off. We've been out with Lady Gaga, Gym Class Heroes, and Lady Sovereign for the last three months. We're on the Blink 182 tour later this summer, and we're going to Europe right now. Doing the dates in between, including one with Q-Tip that we're stoked about. Hopefully we'll do some headlining US dates this fall. After that, we've got to get Jacques Jams Vol. II and another album together.
